Coin bank



p 1956 D. A. SEAVER 2,763,429

COIN BANK Filed Dec. 24, 1952 INVENTOR Donald A. Seuver ll. ji'ii-ll United States Patent COIN BANK Donald A. Seaver, West Cheshire, Conn., assiguor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a specially chartered corporation of Connecticut Application December 24, 1952, Serial No. 327,713

1 Claim. (Cl. 232-) My invention relates to coin banks of the tubular type wherein coins are admitted at one end until the bank is full before it can be opened.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved coin bank of the class wherein the closure means is more efiectively locked until the bank is completely full.

Another object is to avoid the use of extraneous devices f-or releasing the closure locking means, this function being accomplished automatically when the last coin has been inserted.

Another object is to provide a coin bank having the above features which is simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a front view of a coin bank.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the bank on an enlarged scale and in an empty state.

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view showing the position of the parts at the bottom end when the bank is loaded and ready to be opened.

Fig. 4 is an elevation view of the bottom end with the closure cap removed.

Fig. 5 is a plan view and vertical sectional view through the closure cap before assembly with the pawl ring.

Fig. 6 is a plan view and cross sectional view of the pawl ring, the sectional view taken along the line AA of the plan view.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the pawl ring, and

Fig. 8 is a plan view and cross sectional view of the spring element in the upper end of the bank which performs two important functions as later described, the sectional view taken along the line BB of the plan view.

The improved bank as shown in Fig. 1 comprises generally a cylindrical tubular body shell 8 having its upper end 9 closed and its bottom end open. A horizontal coin slot 10 is cut in the cylindrical wall of the body adjacent to but spaced somewhat from the upper end wall 9. The bottom end portion is formed with a rolled thread 11 leading up to a circumferential rib 12, and a closure cap 13 is provided formed with mating threads 13a so that it can be assembled with the body shell 8 by rotative movement of several turns in one direction.

A disc or pawl ring 14 is anchored in the bottom of the cap 13 by a hexagonal hollow boss 15 formed up from the bottom wall of said cap 13, and which boss 15 extends through a hexagonal hole 16 in the powl disc 14 and is then upset or riveted over the top surface of the disc as shown at 17 in Fig. 2. A series of spring detent pawls 18, herein three in number, are struck out from the pawl disc to extend upwardlya sufiicient distance to form a resilient support for the coins 19 stacked in the bank shell 8. Pawl ring 14 has a small base wall 14a in which the hexagonal hole 16 is pierced and a larger base wall 14b slightly elevated above the smaller base 14a. The spring pawls 18 are sheared out of larger base 14b and from their point of attachments are given a left hand twist relative to the base so that their outer edges assume more or less of a helix and their inner free edges adjacent their free ends are raised substantially above said larger base 14b. In forming the spring pawls as described above they collectively present a dished arrangement so as to guide and cause the first several coins to be flat in the base of the bank and to preclude the coins from getting wedged underneath said pawls.

A series of ratchet-like notches 20 corresponding in number and generally in size and shape to the outer edges of the spring pawls 18 are cut out of the body shell 8 around its lower extremity. The leading edge 21 of the notches 20, or in other words, the forward edge in the direction of the threading-on movement is inclined downwardly and forwardly as is the outer edges of the pawl 18 so that during the threading-on of the cap the spring pawls will cam down and ride over the bottom edge of the body shell. When the cap is threaded on toward its assembled position the pawls will snap into the notches 20 and the free end of each pawl will engage the opposite edge 22 of each slot thus effectively locking the cap against unthreading movement. The edge 22 for a little less than the width of a coin is made perpendicular to the base of the bank so as to assure a positive stop for the free end of the pawls 18 when abutted thereag-ainst, and then merges into a radius 24 so as to cause the pawls to cam out of the notches 20 after said pawls have been sprung below the limits of edge 22 and permit the cap 13 to be unscrewed.

A restricting member 25 which is fiitted in the body shell against its upper end might be termed a combined pawl releasing device and safety device to prevent the coins from being removed through the slot 10. It has a short skirt portion 26 so as to space its crosswise-extending or base wall 27 a short distance from the end wall 9 of the shell 8. An arcuate slot 28 is cut out of the wall 27 so as to provide a spring tongue 29 with a downwardly domed central portion 30 extending Well in the path of a coin entering through the slot 10. The end of the tongue 29 is formed with a turn-up lug 31 which terminates a short distance from the top end wall 9. Thus the domed central portion 30 extends downwardly far enough to serve to prevent coins passing out through the slot 10 until when the bank is full up to the last coin it will yield upwardly and allow the coin to be pushed into place. When this is done .the edge of the coin works against the camming surface 32 to exert considerable downward pressure on the whole column of coins which is suflicient to push the pawls 18 out of locking engagement with the notches 20. The closure cap 13 can then be unthreaded from the body shell and during the initial unthreading movement the pawls will further cam downwardly and ride over the radius surface 24 of the notches 20.

By providing a closure cap which is threaded on to the shell it is impossible to remove it by shaking the coins in an attempt to release the locking device. It will be evident to those skilled in the art that my coin bank while performing all of the functions required by such a device is simple in construction, and can be economically manufactured from thin metal.

I have shown and described one preferred embodiment in my invention but obviously many variations and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

A coin bank having a hollow cylindrical body closed at its top end and open at the bottom end, the bottom portion of the body being exteriorly threaded, a threaded cap for closing the bottom end of the body, means for locking the cap to the body comprising a plurality of ratchet-like notches cut out of the bottom end of the body, said notches each having one edge inclined downwardly in the direction of threading-on movement of said cap and at least a part of its opposite edge perpendicular 4 to the bottom of the cap, and a disc attached in a nonapplied to the coins said pawls will be forced downwardly rotatable manner to the bottom portion of the cap and out of locking engagement with said notches permitting the overlapping the edge of the cylindrical body, a. series of cap to be unthreaded. spring detent pawls struck out from the outer pontion of said disc to extend upwardly a sufficient distance to, form 6 References Cited in the file of this patent a resilient support for coins and to register with said notches, said paw/ls passing over the notches to permit UNITED STATES PATENTS threading movement of several turns of said cap but pre- 486,639 Gilman Nov. 22, 1892 venting unthreading movement after the cap is once as- 540,387 Hodgson June 4, 1895 sembled, whereby when suflioient downward pressure is, 10 1,101,706 Mentzer June 30, 1914 

